A friend of Baldwin told the New York Post, "This is a desperate plea for sympathy when the only danger to the child is inside her own home."

"What kind of parent leaks a voicemail that causes her daughter significant embarrassment and unneeded attention?"

Kim's rep said in a statement that the actress "did not release the voicemail."

Meanwhile Heather Mills has come to Alec's defence, telling a radio show, "It's wrong to speak to your daughter like that. I would never talk to my daughter like that, but his daughter lives with Kim and we have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.

"People lose it, forgive him. Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house - we are not here to judge and criticise what other people do."